| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The coordinating conjunction kai {καὶ | kaì} links this report to the previous servants in the parable. The article plus adjective ho heteros {ὁ ἕτερος | hó héteros} “the other” singles out another servant in contrast to the earlier ones who traded successfully. The aorist verb elthen {ἦλθεν | ēlthen} “came” presents his approach as a complete event, while the accompanying present participle legon {λέγων | légōn} “saying” introduces the content of his speech as contemporaneous with his coming. The vocative Kyrie {Κύριε | Kúrie} “Lord” expresses respectful address to the master of the parable, followed immediately by the interjection idou {ἰδοὺ | idoù} “behold” that draws attention to what is being presented. The nominative phrase he mna sou {ἡ μνᾶ σου | hē mnâ sou} “your mina” combines article, noun, and possessive pronoun to stress that the sum still belongs to the Lord. The relative pronoun hen {ἣν | hēn} “which” introduces a relative clause that further describes the mina. Within this clause, the imperfect verb eichon {εἶχον | eîchon} “I was keeping” depicts continuous past possession, and the perfect participle apokeimenen {ἀποκειμένην | apokeiménēn} “having been laid up” portrays the mina as placed into a state of safekeeping with ongoing result. The prepositional phrase en soudario {ἐν σουδαρίῳ | en soudaríō} “in a cloth” specifies the location and manner of this safeguarding. Together, the imperfect plus perfect participle emphasize duration and settled inaction: the servant carefully preserved the entrusted money but did not put it to productive use. The translations mirror this by using “had kept laid away” and “kept stored away” to reflect both the continuing action and the static, unproductive state implied by the Greek construction. |